Family demands answers after yearlong delay for veteran's name on Nassau memorial
Alan Greenfield says his father, U.S. Army Sgt. Milton Greenfield, was his hero.
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An Island Park man says he paid to honor his late father, a Korean War veteran, on a Nassau County memorial wall, but nearly a year later, he says the name is still missing.
Alan Greenfield says his father, Milton Greenfield, was his hero.
"He was a patriot," he says.
After Milton Greenfield served in the Korean War, he spent decades helping develop missile guidance systems for the U.S. Navy while working for defense contractor Sperry in Lake Success.
"He served his country in many ways, both on the civil side and on the military side," Alan Greenfield says.
When his father died last year, Greenfield says he paid $100 to have his dad’s name engraved on Nassau’s only memorial site for veterans - the Walls of Honor at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow.
Greenfield says repeated calls and emails to the Nassau County Veterans Monument fund went unanswered.
"It's been a year...with dead silence, no updates, no nothing. I finally sent her one last message saying, ‘Listen, you know, I've been patient. I'm trying to find out what the status is, but if I don't hear from you in the next three days, I'm going to take it up with my local congressional official,'" he says.
Within 48 hours, a letter from the fund arrived, apologizing for the delay.
The letter read, “Walls of Honor has been working through ongoing discussions with the county to remain independent of government control, which has impacted the timeline. We appreciate your patience.”
That's when he decided to Turn To Tara.
"I think there has to be some digging. I think there's something deeper that doesn't pass the sniff test," he says.
News 12 reached out to the Nassau County Veterans Monument Fund. Officials sent a similar statement to the Turn To Tara team, blaming ongoing talks with the county for the delay.
In response, a spokesman for Nassau County said the county is now taking over responsibility for the memorial, saying it believes it’s in the best interest of veterans and their families for the county to directly handle maintenance and new name requests so they can be processed in a “timely, respectful, and professional manner.”
Greenfield says he’s hoping that means he and other families will no longer be left waiting.
